Auditor: County fund balance 'sound'

Board presented 2012 financials

MANISTIQUE – Schoolcraft County has a “sound” fund balance, according to its auditors. The September 2012 audit report was presented during a recent meeting of the Schoolcraft County Board of Commissioners.

According to Alan Stotz, auditor for the firm Anderson, Tackman and Company PLC, the county received a “clean opinion” and no discrepancies were found during the audit. He explained, as of September 2012, the county’s general fund showed an approximate balance of $957,000.

“At this point, the fund balance does look very sound,” he said. “The county has come a long way.”

The balance reflects a positive addition of at the year’s fiscal end, which was Sept. 30, 2012.

“There was an increase of fund balance in the general fund in the last fiscal year of $156,000, which is good,” he said. “That’s what you try to do; that’s why you set your budget so that you have success in trying to keep the expenses controlled and living within your means.”

He noted that the county’s Municipal Employees’ Retirement System was 73 percent funded by the end of 2011.

“It is, like many other places are, fairly underfunded,” he said.

The board unanimously accepted the audit report.

In other business, the board also unanimously accepted a bid of $18,791 to repair the roof of the Schoolcraft County Jail.